How to Wednesday: natural fresh look with tinted moisturizer

Tinted moisturizer combines the benefits of skin care and a light foundation for a natural, luminous complexion.  These moisturizers add a slight tint to match your skin tone, giving you a natural un-made up look. A lot of tinted moisturizers also come with added SPF to protect your skin from sun damage, something that is not found in most foundations.

In the search for tinted moisturizer we can find an excellent one from Rae Cosmetics from right here in Austin.   Rae is a fresh and versatile cosmetics line specifically created for everyday use, during exercise or for those that simply lead a busy lifestyle.   Rochelle Rae is CEO and creator of Rae Cosmetics formulated a product that is perfect for our hot and humid Texas weather.  In a recent interview she said, “It is for any woman that sweats from a Pilates workout or just being in Texas”.

In achieving this natural fresh look we suggest Rae Cosmetics Climate Control Mineral Tint - SPF 20.  With ingredients like titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, it’s naturally water resistant and a natural, chemical free sunscreen. Ginkgo biloba, chamomile and vitamins A, C and E protect, moisturize and heal even the most sensitive skin, while evening skin tones and masking imperfections.

How to apply Rae Cosmetics Climate Control Mineral Tint - SPF 20:

1. When applying any type of makeup, it is always best to start with a clean face.   Cleanse the face and neck area, thoroughly dry the skin with a towel before applying makeup.
2. Dot a small amount of Surface Primer - SPF 20 to protect the skin, while evening out skin tones, visibly diminishing imperfections and the appearance of fine lines and large pores.  In applying this primer you extend the wear of makeup along with building anti-oxidants, Vitamins A, C and D.
3. Dab Climate Control Mineral Tint - SPF 20 over any blemishes or red spots first. This will help to create a more even skin tone. Blend Climate Control Mineral Tint - SPF 20 into the skin working from the center of the face outward using a foam wedge. You can use your fingers if you do not have a foam wedge.
4. Complete the look by blending the moisturizer along the hairline and neckline. This creates a more natural look and avoids the fake look rather than the natural fresh face we are going for.

For a final touch:

• Dab Rae Cosmetics Concealer to camouflage imperfections and alleviate the appearance of dark circles, blemishes and imperfections.
•  Lightly dusting some powder helps to set the moisturizer and eliminates shiny or oily spots on the skin.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of tinted moisturizer?

•     Light coverage, not a heavy look
•     Most provide SPF protection
•     Provides a moisturizer and cosmetic in one application
•     Easy and quick to apply
•     Most last all day
•     Available in varying shades to match every skin tone
•     2 products in 1 is less expensive

Achieving this look attainable and tangible with the ease that a tinted moisturizer brings that does not require gobs of time in front of the mirror in the morning or later in the day.  There are few of us who want to venture out completely bare-faced, especially when we are often running from the gym to meetings, errands, school events – the list goes on.

The Simple Life

When you first hear about still pinning clothes on a clothes line to dry outside you probably think ‘that was a long time ago’.  My thought as I am really considering this with some of our laundry is SIMPLE.  I am at a place that I am looking for simplicity in my living.   In this clutter free home that I am striving to have I am also trying to be clutter free with all the media and technology.  Trust me this is hard as I am working on my iPad 2 as I sit next to my awesome techy husband who is superb at it.  When I read the reports, the statics on children’s minds and how much smarter they are the less TV and games are played.   What is my goal with this SIMPLE life?  It is really to find what enriches our lives the most, the people that truly bring us the richest moments of anyone’s life. 

In taking back we can actually take our relationships forward.  Investing time in our children so they can learn to develop a critical mind rather than one that accepts what is told to think.   In this SIMPLE life we can be more in tune with God and His whispers in our hearts and soul.  

So as I ponder on drying my clothes outside I also ponder on the freshness we can receive from simply enjoying the gifts God gave us all around!

Wishing

 As we approach the weekend I wanted to share another inspiring note from my friend Kristi Johnson:

“I wish…” a phrase that should be eliminated from our vocabulary. I wish I could go back, do over, start again, make different.   I wish I was more like them, could do that, had this, knew them.  What  good does wishing really do? It changes nothing.  It is not progress.  One can wish all day in exactly the same place, never moving forward, and it doesn’t make a bit of difference.  Does wishing you could go back, change the clock?  The real question is what do you do with that wish? Is that thing you wish worth the fight?  Will you put any effort into actually getting that thing you want?  Is the trait you see in yourself worth changing? Is the regret you wish you could change worth putting behind you?  I wish… what’s the point of that?  STOP WISHING!  Stop wasting time on wishes and get up and DO!  Change what needs to be changed. Fight for the things that are worth it.  Every second you spend on a wish could be put toward an action that will move you closer to actually having what you wish for…

From my article at examiner.com...Spring 2011 Vibrant Eyes

Wednesday how- to for dummies: Spring 2011 Vibrant Eyes

For spring, the eyes most definitely have it as skin is natural with nude lips.  This fashionably daring burst of colors is showing up in shadows and liners for spring 2011 season.  The popular green peacock inspired look that Rihanna has been trying with different shades of green can be easy for you too.

 As trends come and go you do not want to necessarily invest large amounts of money so we went to Walmart here in Austin and found shades from Covergirl that you can purchase without breaking the bank to achieve this spring’s eye makeup.  

Here are the items that you will need:

• Cover Girl Eye Enhancers in Turquoise Tempest
• Cover Girl Eye Enhancers 4-Kit Shadows in Blossoms

How to apply:

1. Start by blending an iridescent purple shadow around the lashes, using a brush to lightly dust the shade all the way up to the brows.
2. Then apply a shimmery teal green along the inner corners. If you have fair skin, just take the colors to the creases so it’s not overwhelming.
3.  Finish the look with a nude lipstick; you don’t need any other strong shades on your face.

Tip for Long Lasting Eye Makeup:

• Don’t let your eye shadow streak or fade in the summer heat!
• To help eye shadow last all day, use a primer to make any shadow or liner water and sweat resistant.
• After all eye makeup is in place, including mascara, close eyes and dust lightly a loose powder to set color.

 A peacock’s vibrant feathers are designed to be mesmerizing—and so is the effect their bold colors have on your eyes. No more boredom in makeup! Give it try and be confident as we learn to enhance our eyes with color this spring.

http://www.examiner.com/makeup-in-austin/annette-yanez

Peace for your day

This is the second morning that I have this prayer for women in general.  I may not know your name or where you are in life however God does.  I pray that his peace surrounds you in all areas of your day.  That His peace that surpass all understanding gives you strengthen within to accomplish any task at hand you may be working on.  In His peace we find that nothing is missing and nothing is broken so let His peace fulfill any need you may have.   Allow for God’s peace to meet you where you are at with no worries,  just trust as God loves us regardless of what we may or may not have done.   In this peace I pray you have a good day!

Spring break filled with hands on activities

We took some time off last week to take kids to San Antonio for a mini-vacation. Our trip started with Thursday night at my sister-n-law’s house where she greeted us with a homemade dinner.  That was such a treat as I did not have to cook!  We headed out the next day to San Antonio Children’s Museum where kids just had a blast! I love that my kids are into museums and doing arts and crafts.  That brings such a joy to my heart as we must be leading towards things they can learn for themselves and not just all the technology options out there.  After lunch we checked into The Westin La Cantera where we were staying the night.  At our surprise they had things lined out for the kids to do such as more arts and crafts, magic show and movie outside at sunset.  Kids did all that and swam the next day too where they were just so happy.  Do not get me wrong we came on this trip with my brand new iPad 2 and watched some boring fishing show while all cuddle in bed together. However I think that conscience effort we are making in cutting down on TV and media so that they kids can learn is obvious.  During the outdoor movie my kids were more interested in this tree that was great for climbing and sitting on.  I came home with more purpose in seeing my kids develop their minds through activities that promote critical thinking and not being told what to think.

I am not spending the night!

Saturday we went over to our friend’s house for a dinner get together.  My friend has two precious girls ages 6 and 3 so you can only imagine the tons of girl toys they could possibly have.  Besides the two girls, my three kiddos there were also another girl and twin boys.   At our house the boy toys prevail over my daughter girly toys so for her this has the best house ever to be playing at.  My son Alex and the twin boys seemed fine with everything as they were just having fun playing with everyone.  Noah on the other hand showed us where he draws the line when it comes to anything girly!  

As most kid friendly households we have a small table of some sort that we can pull out so kids can sit at and eat while the adults continue to have grown up time even during the meal….yes, you can do it after practice.  You just learn to kinda turn one ear off to the kids while you be an adult with the others.  As we placed each child’s food on the table we called them to sit down.  Noah comes over ready to eat but halts at the sight of a princess table with princess chairs letting us know “I am not a girl” and picks a chair at the table firmly. You have to know that my husband likes to taunt him by offering pink underwear or pink dresses for him to wear so he has come up this thing of not being referred to as a baby or girl.  As we continue the process of feeding the kids and serving ourselves I let Noah sit at the table to eat until we needed to move him.  Chuckling at his reaction we just had to bribe him with eating a cupcake if he sat at the table with the other boys.

 From there the evening continued peacefully and harmonically even when kids were saying their goodbyes.   As conversation of the girls spending the night was going on and Alex inviting them to maybe go camping one night in the backyard, Noah must have been listening.   With even more determination then earlier with almost a low growl Noah turned to me saying “I am not spending the night!!”  Poor guy he probably thought no way how could I ever sleep in pink sheets with purple blankets on while laying his head on some princess pillow. 

I think he didn’t sigh out of relief until he buckled himself in his car seat knowing he was clear of all things girly.

How -to Wednesday for dummies

Check out my article from examiner.com on Blush:

http://www.examiner.com/makeup-in-austin/how-to-wednesday-for-dummies

Just you and me

Tonight my husband and I are having an evening to ourselves.  I know, how did that happen!  My mom is off this week so she invited the kids to spend the night and luckily my sister will be with her too.  Having a night free to do what we want my husband quickly suggested dinner and a movie which I love to do.  However all morning I just want us to go home and enjoy the stillness of our house.  I truly just want to sit next to my husband and do nothing.  I woke yesterday with such a burst of love for him that I cannot get enough of seeing him. 

More than likely we will go see a movie and it will be better as it is good for us to get out of the house as well.  Many times I ponder on the book “The Wedding” by Nicholas Sparks as there is the conversation in the beginning on how the husband and wife grew apart in midst of the kids.  My determination in my marriage with young kids is to not to allow our relationship to get lost but that our relationship grows.  There is a difference between being together and involved as a family with the kids and having a relationship with your spouse.  We take time to carry conversations that have nothing to do with the kids or work but on things like new foods we like.   How about a 10 minute conversation on new ideas, new interests that we may have. 

As the kids grow so do we as parents evolving us as well as a person.  Change is not bad especially when the person you love is there every step of the way.  That is where I ponder on many times as I know that I am not the same person I was when I was dating, I mean I am but I am not.  Can be so confusing however we change without the person next us waking up one morning saying ‘how are you, have you changed overnight?’   I know that this burst of love that I am having is because we are changing and I am in love with every part of my husband even if he has changed a bit.  I burst with love for him because he is next to me in everything that I am.  God placed us together because He did not want anyone to be alone.  God placed us together so that we can continue to strengthen each other in dreams, vision for the life and plans that God gave us.  What is constant and never changing is that we are together regardless of what is moving around us.  Like it was said last night in advice for The Bachelor (yes, don’t judge haha) you just have to look at each other in the eye and know that it is ‘just you and me’ right here.

Our Best "Staycation" Ideas

Our Best "Staycation" Ideas

This morning as I was reading news the second largest story is concerning the rise of gas. They were focusing on the rise of gas and the effect on spring break plans. For many in the last few years going somewhere for vacation was the only choice however I do not remember going anywhere growing up unless it was summer. My reaction to this is let’s use this time to really enjoy our family at home. I found this article with ideas for a Staycation. Hope this inspires you to try one out….

Keeping it simple

We spent the day at home yesterday just enjoying our house.   From the moment we woke up there was laughter in the air that brought such warmth to my heart.   

As I started breakfast and cleaning the house I began to ponder on being a mom, a mom to 3 kids a year apart.  In the last few weeks I really have been trying to pick my reactions based on what is more important.  To me a clean picked up house is vital so when you walk in my house it is rare that it will be a complete mess yet I go around saying that it is a mess when I see a sock on the floor.  Maybe I am exaggerating on going around in such a tiffy over a sock a bit but not by much so.  I ponder on what I hear so many times from women who have already gone through this saying to just relax and enjoy because kids grow up too fast.   I applied that thought to the day and took deep breaths and by the time I went to bed my house was clean but more importantly I did not get all worked up. I enjoyed my day, my kids enjoyed the day and my husband enjoyed the day.  That my dear friends, is the best feeling to know that we enjoyed the day that the Lord gave us, we rejoiced with each other and family and friends that came over.   

Let the sock sit there on the floor as you hug your little one, read to your little one, cook for your family or just sit on the couch surround by love!  My motto these days is ‘Keep it Simple’ as in reality it is the small simple moments that serve as blocks that we build memories on.  

3 Ways to give you the natural look for SXSW

Try achieving a natural makeup look during your time at SXSW whether it be tech parties, movies or music. Enjoy

http://www.examiner.com/makeup-in-austin/3-ways-to-give-you-the-natural-look-for-sxsw

Purpose

I have asked my friend, Kristi, if I could share with you some of her material.  She is a great woman who has much that I can learn from so I just want to pass along her words of wisdom that challenge us to be the women we are called to be!

I have come to a place in my life where I have all I ever wanted…a loving husband, three incredible children, a beautiful home, healthy family members, a reliable vehicle, and yet…it’s not enough.  It sounds crazy, I know.  Many people would love to have any number of these things, much less all of them.  But, it’s not.  It is not enough.  It’s not enough because, while all of these things are blessings and things I will never take for granted, they are not what I’m here for.  I was not created to be a wife, as much as I love my husband and am honored to be the one he chose.  I was not created to be a mother, even though there is absolutely nothing I would not do for my children.  Daughter, sister, friend, homemaker, chauffer, organizer, cook, etc… I was not created for  these things.  No. I was created first and foremost to be a child of God.  To have a relationship with the One who made me, the One who knows me inside and out and better than anyone else.  The One who doesn’t care if I have a pimple or a wrinkle or a little fat where it doesn’t belong.  The One who isn’t bothered by my impatience, or bad mood.  I was put here, on this earth, to love Him, to spend time with Him, to praise Him, and to know Him in return.  And in that, to be the very best wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, etc…  “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  Matt. 6:33

Dreaming

What a great thing we have in being able to dream.  I thank God for dropping desires in our hearts that we can dream about.  I love sharing my dreams and tonight I shared my dream, desires and I am stirred for the future! In these dreams I am inclusive because I truly love people. I want to help women through encouragement and giving hope. So tonight I say let the dreaming go on…..